FAF Client system proposal /NOT full of naked FAF ladies/

[BLo0D-Av3ng3r]

Backstory wall of text

The reason I am writing to you is to resolve a long lasting in my mind issue.
I have been playing here for 1 year during which I have just above 500 games played. This is something that has been bothering me since day 1 to be honest. So here I am writing this.
Today I had a game 3v3 in which our front 1900 rated player unfortunately in the first 10 minutes got his acu killed by 1500 rated guy who surrounded it and blocked movement with t1 spam. It sucks but mistakes do happen. After promptly moving my ACU in the dead player`s base I reclaimed it and established factories to continue fighting with the purpose to win. At which point my other teammate decided that since the game no longer favors us he could just quit. HE DID even though we had a decent chances of winning he simply did not want to play this one out. I have had similar experiences when someone quits simply because he feels like quitting, which greatly annoys and most often than not ends up costing me my ratings.



In every client I have played in (and I have 15 years of gaming experience on various platforms playing strategy games) there a systems in place to prevent abuse and promote good behavior.
QUITTING results in a warnings or a ban of that player in most gaming platforms. Here all we have is the manual report page and most people don’t know about it and very rarely it gets used(its simply not advertised enough, I only learned about it last month and I have been on FAF for a year, and yes I know it’s on the top of Aeolus). Technically speaking I can join a game, do nothing for 5 mins or more then quit if I feel like to and nothing will happen. I can then change my nickname and do the same stunt over and over again until (possibly) a moderator steps in to resolve this issue.
Now quitting for no reason happens extremely rarely in games 1200 +, but is somewhat more common in noob friendly games, which results in discouraging new players. To that reason I want to propose something full to promote the right kind of behavior, without alienating players and still friendly to new players, something that would promote good play be simple in execution yet effective enough.

Actual proposal

I have discussed and thought of several options:

1. Add a friendly looking button next to each players nickname in the replay tab where you can click on it and report the player for(in a drop down textbox menu), with a verification pop up – Are you sure you want to report – YES/NO


1) In game AFK (for more than several minutes)
2) Griefing (reclaiming friendly units or structures)
3) Insulting and bad behavior
4) Exploits
5) Teamkills
6) Game Ruin ( any other practice that results in game ruin, like quitting for no reason, lagging the game , after death and other)

NOTE1: This button should either be accessible in the replays tab, or/and more proactively can open like a popup window in FAF client at the end of every game. Second option should promote better results as immediately it shows players (even new ones) that the games are moderated not only by admins but other players themselves and bad behavior will be punished.

Note2: A player should not be punished if only 1 of 10 players has reported him. He should only receive a warning which will disappear in several days. If however this player gets several warnings 3+ from different players this should be considered grounds for punishment. Only players who have played in the game should be able to report as the quality of their own game was influenced.

Note3 Punishments

>> Punishments can be implemented in game as a player is required to win 1v1 match before he`s allowed to play multiplayer again. This makes for a light punishment but prompts the player to make efforts and be challenged.

>> More severe punishments can works as well like time based bans. More warnings will result in 24 hour ban, with each subsequent ban being more severe- 24h, 48h and so on.

>> Alternatively there can be more forgiving punishments then forcing a player to win a single game or time based bans, like playing 3 games in total 1v1 ( not being required to win) , without quitting or other bad behavior.

Suggestion 2
Adding next to the ratings in the lobby another column which will indicate – Wins/losses, as well as disconnects, warnings and bans

The reason for this is to make players ratings more visible as well as to prevent abuses and bad games, as much as possible form the start. Currently people simply foe in Aeolus players who have caused them headaches for lagging and making games unplayable or bad behavior. There is no other way to root out potential issues in good games. More visible stats should work nicely to resolve this issue and would not be too difficult to implement. Furthermore there already exist win ratios in ladder, why not for multiplayer as well?

Final Words

The reason I want to propose this is because I have found it lacking in an otherwise excellent and well supported client. I know that a manual report function exists- http://bit.ly/2a9Yg5i, but the majority of people don’t know about it, and most people don’t use it. I am aware that this requires coding power and you are busy on other projects. The fact is the current system is simply not friendly to new players and often not used and furthermore requires moderator support, while my suggestion focuses on player based control. I want my proposition to promote the right kind of behavior in game, without alienating old players and still friendly to new ones. I would like to see it promote good play, be as simple as possible in execution yet effective enough. For your consideration.

With regards


PS: I would like to thank the people who helped me with feedback for this, especially 2 of my clan buddies MikZZ, Empty_slot and others. I have received tons of feedback and some pretty good suggestions from a surprising number of people so i am posting this here so everyone who wants can comment, hate on it, give feedback or their own suggestions. Thanks you :)

[Viba]

Overall a good idea, I've thought about a similar system for quite some time also. As long as it is finetuned and made so that troll reports/not actual bad behavior reports can't ruin someones reputation/status and shut said player out of games, it would be perfect.

From what I can gather the coding requirements would not be too huge, but still it would require some time investments to get it fully working. Plus the details of how the system would work would have to be planned/designed first. Teamkills already have the in-game popup and those get recorded, similar thing could be added to the client for reports regarding those other areas. The work brutus did with new moderator tools and related database/API changes could be reused or further expanded upon.

I would not have automatic punishments, but rather flag players with X amount of reports for moderators to review. Unsure if some visual indication of a players reputation would be good or not, e.g. steam has VAC status and profile page with comments from other players, but if the system is abused it can cause harm for players too.

[moonbearonmeth]

I know that a manual report function exists- http://bit.ly/2a9Yg5i, but the majority of people don’t know about it, and most people don’t use it.

Perhaps this is an indication that further implementation of features isn't actually needed.
If it is true that most people don't know about it, perhaps it's because they haven't found themselves in a situation where they find the actions performed by other players 'report worthy'.
This would also explain the amount of people that know about the report form and don't use it.

[PhilipJFry]

most people don't engage in aeolus and thus never notice the report form
making reports easier would be good (as long as it is not abused)

[SilentWarrior]

I agree with most of what you're saying, except the part about lagging. I use a laptop and have only ever lagged two games, in all the time I've played. But, the rage I get from players in the game Lobby, when they see my cpu score, is unreal!!!!
I've had people, who have hosted the game, constantly try to defend me being in the game, and I've just quit the Lobby so I don't cause any further rage. It sucks!!!! and is totally uncalled for. I've had to do ladder, just to play a game. That's not fair, and if you implement it into this, then you alienate people, like me. Then what's the point of faf for me??!
That's another point, and it should be kept separate.

[Endranii]

I know that a manual report function exists- http://bit.ly/2a9Yg5i, but the majority of people don’t know about it, and most people don’t use it.

Perhaps this is an indication that further implementation of features isn't actually needed.
If it is true that most people don't know about it, perhaps it's because they haven't found themselves in a situation where they find the actions performed by other players 'report worthy'.
This would also explain the amount of people that know about the report form and don't use it.

The thing is that Blood avenger didn't even know it exists before talking with me about the proposal he wanted to make.
As for the whole proposal I agree with some parts and disagree with some as the OP already knows.

But in the very beginning I would go about making the Report function more visible to other players. Like making it one of the "tips" shown during the loading screen, and making it visible in lobby or smt of this kind. As truly many people are not aware that smt like that exists or even who are mods responsible for it. And make it part of the #newbie channel topic? As I see it's not in the headline.

My other Idea was to actually make it possible to mark players who have been griefing/ruining games by the moderators who are already handing out the punishments. Dunno how much coding it would need to show the marked players as "red names" in lobby but for sure it wouldn't be much additional work for the mods, but like I said dunno about coders.

Also I would be cautious about the lagging part as to not write off player who simply had some kind of problems at one day but mostly don't have it. Even more as rehosting lobby is like 1-2 min at best at least when it comes to seton. Also new people may simply not know that their conn can't handle the 6v6 games or so. For example I myself didn't knew that I will encounter some problems with my wifi conn making it unstable when playing scenarios bigger than 5v5.

[Endranii]

.

Don't mistake the network lag with the simulation "lag" or simply sim speed slow down.

[MikZZ]

I fully support the initiative of my fellow clan, BLo0D-Av3ng3r. He said a lot on business and many worthwhile thoughts.

I believe that it is necessary to introduce social acoustics so that players can express their attitude towards other players. Negative feedback will help to identify more unreliable players who like to destroy the game and shit others.

And the easiest way is to introduce an additional field - Like or Dislike (in the form of a counter). Thus, players can express their opinion on others. This will further simplify the creation of games and the selection of players, as well as allow to influence the behavior of players: motivating not to make nasty taps and offensive statements.

If you received 5 penalties , automatically poison the moderation and issuing a warning. 10 penalties - then it's a ban for several days and so on.

Especially noticeable unsporting behavior on Seton's Clutch. Even with Full Share settings, some players specifically blow up all the troops and spoil the game to the rest of the team. Or they sabotage the game process - by taking resource places or hitting other players.

You are familiar with such players and behavior.

It's time to bring a fresh stream into the gameplay and punish the players who interfere with getting pleasure from the team play and the fight.



Concerning the automatic system "Like" or "Do not like."

Enough of this counter with violations, which will each time accrue one point per game. In this case, for a penalty point, you must vote (mark), for example, at least 30% of the total number of participants or otherwise.

Those. for the game 3 on 3 - this is at least 2 scores from two different players. If 4 to 4, then you already need three ratings.
This is if we are talking about an automatic system of charging penalty scores.

Ofcourse, for every penelty should be storend inforation about the game (replay ID) where it happen, to know how it happens, To prevent using this option to destroy reputation of any player by bad boys.

[PegasusScourge]

I agree with most of what you're saying, except the part about lagging

Before I give endorsement to the ideas and comments put forward by BLo0D-Av3ng3r, I want to address this. I can't speak for blood avenger, but he probably meant purposeful lagging of the game. IIRC that's an offence that can result in bans/time outs etc. Lagging the game because you have a high cpu score and/or bad net isn't an offence, just annoying.

But to the endorsement; the report options of FAF seemed unobvious to me when I joined ~1-1.5 years ago, so I fully agree with the raising of the profile etc. Obviously the topic is still open to debate, but the ideas put forward here are very worth considering if not implementing in some fashion.

Punishments can be implemented in game as a player is required to win 1v1 match before he`s allowed to play multiplayer again

This bit though, I'm not sure on. Whilst it works for those skilled at 1v1, if someone's never done ladder before but they have >300 games on global, then find themselves in the infamous "training period" of the matching system, this penalty will vary in time and strength. E.g. they get matched straight with a 1500 ladder, or the opposite of a 0 ladder.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea, but from my perspective it could use a small tweak.

[FtXCommando]

Today I had a game 3v3 in which our front 1900 rated player unfortunately in the first 10 minutes got his acu killed by 1500 rated guy who surrounded it and blocked movement with t1 spam. It sucks but mistakes do happen. After promptly moving my ACU in the dead player`s base I reclaimed it and established factories to continue fighting with the purpose to win. At which point my other teammate decided that since the game no longer favors us he could just quit. HE DID even though we had a decent chances of winning he simply did not want to play this one out. I have had similar experiences when someone quits simply because he feels like quitting, which greatly annoys and most often than not ends up costing me my ratings.

There is a very thin line between throwing games and quitting games that are already lost. I quit plenty of games where a loss is practically guaranteed because I don't see the point in playing out a game where my team can no longer affect the outcome. Problem is a lot of people have this idea that all games need to be played out because there is ALWAYS a chance that a loss can be turned around. They will cite some stupid Gyle cast video where a team was able to make a huge comeback or one of the 3 games of their 1200 where they were able to abuse how bad the enemy was. These games are almost all won because the enemy team decided to turn off their brain, suicide 2 gcs worth of reclaim at the enemy, and/or sit ACUs under no cover at minute 30. They are also rare games, hence the reason they are often the type of game to be casted. For every video of a comeback there were 20 games that were utter stomps. I don't enjoy clutching my rosary beads and hoping for a sudden decrease in the mental capacity of the enemy team so I can gain 9 rating in some teamgame. I'd rather go play a game that isn't already over and where I am not at the mercy of the enemy team misplaying. Why waste 15 minutes waiting for the kill blow?

Then you also have the dudes that feel quitting a game is completely heretical and that you need to play every single game out to the point where your ACU is dead. I don't even understand that point of view.

Now quitting for no reason happens extremely rarely in games 1200 +

Fake news.

Note2: A player should not be punished if only 1 of 10 players has reported him. He should only receive a warning which will disappear in several days. If however this player gets several warnings 3+ from different players this should be considered grounds for punishment. Only players who have played in the game should be able to report as the quality of their own game was influenced.

I like your idea about putting the report option in an easier to find location, but this idea of group punishment is probably the most cancerous suggestion to be put on the forums since I've participated. A person is punished when they break the rules. If 5 players get assblasted then I don't really care as long as the dude didn't actually break a FAF rule. Also how is this system supposed to work in smaller games? 1v1 = automatic punishment for a report? 2v2 = 1? 3v3 = 2? Enemy team just reports some dude that killed them and get a guy's account banned for 24 hours?

>> Punishments can be implemented in game as a player is required to win 1v1 match before he`s allowed to play multiplayer again. This makes for a light punishment but prompts the player to make efforts and be challenged.

Are you aware that 1v1 is multiplayer? There are 2 players = multiplayer. Also this suggestion is even worse than the one above.

>> Alternatively there can be more forgiving punishments then forcing a player to win a single game or time based bans, like playing 3 games in total 1v1 ( not being required to win) , without quitting or other bad behavior.

To some this will be a perma ban. To others this isn't even a punishment. Bad idea.

Suggestion 2
Adding next to the ratings in the lobby another column which will indicate – Wins/losses, as well as disconnects, warnings and bans

The reason for this is to make players ratings more visible as well as to prevent abuses and bad games, as much as possible form the start. Currently people simply foe in Aeolus players who have caused them headaches for lagging and making games unplayable or bad behavior. There is no other way to root out potential issues in good games. More visible stats should work nicely to resolve this issue and would not be too difficult to implement. Furthermore there already exist win ratios in ladder, why not for multiplayer as well?

Point of bans is to punish people. What you are hoping to do is to create an additional level of punishment on others. Also the entire reason the moderation team got rid of the Admin Actions page is because it was used as a high score leaderboard for aeolus warriors so I don't see why they would include another way to measure bans. Win ratio for teamgames is stupid and won't really tell you anything.

I guess a disconnect "reliability rating" would be nice.